


What's In A Name?

by SuperStitious18



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Curious Demon, Devil! Nora, F/M, Fluff, It will be slow burn, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 05:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19805803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperStitious18/pseuds/SuperStitious18
Summary: It had been centuries since she felt that pull in her chest. That pull of someone summoning her to earth, potentially to ask her for a deadly favor or to sell their soul to her, which surprised her that she was the one being summoned. Normally, lower ranking demons dealt in all of that extra crap and the legal loopholes, leaving her to rule over Hell (mostly) in peace.--------------The first of a Devil! Nora AU and her emotional support human, Ray Palmer





	What's In A Name?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [timetravelingpalmer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/timetravelingpalmer/gifts).



It had been centuries since she felt that  _ pull _ in her chest. That pull of someone summoning her to earth, potentially to ask her for a deadly favor or to sell their soul to her, which surprised her that  _ she  _ was the one being summoned. Normally, lower ranking demons dealt in all of that extra crap and the legal loopholes, leaving her to rule over Hell (mostly) in peace.

But it looked like today would be the end of the long reign of radio silence from the mortal realm, as there was no other demon being summoned via their sigil, it was her. She had an obligation to fill, no matter how much she  _ didn't  _ want to. Most demons could decide to refuse a service if they so wished, but she couldn’t, it was part of her punishment. That was a whole mess of questionable logic and ethics that she did not want to get into but sooner or later, it would undoubtedly come up with the human that was calling her.

A resigned sigh escaped her lips and she allowed herself to be pulled through the portal without any resistance.

Appearing in the mortal's home was… interesting. Extremely interesting. It was decorated much differently than she expected of someone trying to summon the Ruler of Hell. It wasn't all dark and dingy and covered in sigils in an attempt to summon her, all she saw was a rather normal looking place. A plain carpet, a rather plain looking blue couch, a small table that had papers all strewn about and a cup of steaming liquid near it. There were also questionable figurines nearby, they looked harmless but she could never be too sure anymore.

Maybe all the papers and the trinkets weren’t normal but what even was normal by mortal standards? Certainly not summoning the Devil herself to your living room. A living room that smelled ... sweet? She didn't know that resting places had certain smells, or at least different smells other than death. So, what was making it smell so nice?

Following the strange enticing scent, she found herself in the mortal's kitchen. At least, she was pretty sure it was a kitchen. It was covered in food residue and was much different than the last kitchen she saw on the human plane. It was also brightly lit and other than the mess, all the instruments seemed to be in a neat order and well used.

The thing that really punctuated all this ridiculousness was the human staring at her like he didn't expect her to show up. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung agape. (The human expression ‘gawking’ briefly crossed her mind, accurately describing this mortal.) She had a hard time believing that he didn’t mean to bring her to the human world, all of them summoned a demon with an express purpose in mind. Be it to fulfill a deep desire, to give their soul over in order for them to achieve dreams that weren't possible before or whatever it was. No one accidentally summoned a demon, let alone Lucifer. 

Right?

"Are you a demon?" The human asked, still gawking at her while holding the source of the sickeningly sweet smell in between his hands. What was that? It was obviously hot, steam coming from the crust of it coupled with the fact the mortal was wearing protection while holding it.

"Yes." Her voice rumbled, the demonic tone to it vibrating the air around her. This was slightly amusing, her first time out of Hell in centuries and she's stuck with a human wearing an apron with… something on it, pink hand protection and holding sweets. It's definitely the best welcome she's had since leaving last.

"Neat." He chirped, shifting a little uncomfortable before setting the warm treat on another glove. What was he doing? Why was he putting it down? Was he not going to eat it? The human must have seen the questioning look on her face and started to explain, "It was getting too hot for me to hold, even with oven mitts. And I certainly can’t eat it until it’s cooled down a little!"

"Oven… mitts?" Now what the  _ hell _ were those?

"You don't know? Ah! Well, this is an oven!" He gestured to the contraption nearby, explaining that it was an upgrade from wood fired ovens she might have seen. 

Ah, that's what it was. She had seen ovens before but  _ never  _ like this. Then he moved onto explaining what some of the other machines were, a fridge, a microwave, a dishwasher. There was a difference between an oven and a toaster oven? Why would anyone need more than one oven? This was insane, why do other demons visit the human world? Especially if it's full of weird things like this.

"What is that?" She asked, pointing to the thing resting on the glove. "It smells like… a lot of sugar."

"Oh! It's a pie!" He grinned, eagerly waving her over to look at it. She hesitantly peered at it and finally understood what brought her here. Every demon summoned required a certain call sign to bring them to the human’s selected residence. Well, there, on top of the pie, was the exact pattern that would have been needed to summon her from her place in Hell. 

"You… summoned me… with a pie?" 

"In my defense, I didn't mean too. I like to bake in my spare time and was experimenting with designs. I'm sorry." He had the decency to look sorry that he disturbed her, but she couldn’t find any ill will towards him for it. It did end up getting her out of Hell and allowed her to breathe fresh air for the first time in centuries.

He was also one of the nicest humans she'd ever heard of, he didn't treat her any different than he would anyone else it seems. He was polite, friendly and was kind enough to explain things to her and not treat her like an idiot as most human men have been known to do. It was the most pleasant experience that she had talking with someone in recent memory.

"Who are you?" She finally thought to ask, he had to have a name. All humans did, hell, even most demons did.

"Oh! I've been rude, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Ray Palmer and welcome to my home!" Ray beamed, putting his hand out to shake hers. She looked at it strangely before gently taking his hand in her clawed one and shaking it.

She shifted, adjusting her form to present as a normal human herself and he looked at her in wonder. No doubt he's never seen a demon be vulnerable and  _ know  _ it was a demon before him. "I am Lucifer, the Devil, Queen of hell. I have many names and many are in different languages."

Ray looked impressed but a little troubled by the end of her introduction. She wondered if her being who she was bothered him and he was just trying to be nice to her when she could destroy him without flinching. She thought her first meeting with a human had been going so well too!

"Do you have a preferred name?" 

Well, that was not what she expected. 

"I… do not understand." She stammered out, what did he mean by a preferred name? She had a name, several and she went by all of them.

"I mean, all those names have been given to you, right? Do you have a name that you'd like me to call you? Like, one you choose?" His tone told her that he was sincere about his inquiries. He really  _ was  _ a genuinely nice human, wasn't he? Asking her what she would rather be known as and making her as comfortable as possible in his home? She was sure he didn't have a mean bone in his body.

"I do not know." Was finally what she settled on, there were so many options now, when had she ever thought about  _ picking  _ her own name? She always answered to whatever someone called her, believing she had no power over it. But now she  _ did _ and she wants to take her time, really get it right.

"Okay! Take your time, would you maybe like a slice of pie? You know, since I summoned you and made you come all this way?" Ray grabbed the now cooled pie, placing it on the counter and pulled out a knife to cut into it. 

No one had ever offered  _ her _ something, not without expecting something in return. "What do you want?" She asked, unsure of proper etiquette now and just stood awkwardly nearby. In the human form she had, she felt too small and powerless next to Ray. Where more humans this  _ large _ and  _ imposing? _ She really hoped not, because then the other demons would be right, that humanity really was terrifying.

"Nothing?" He looked shocked that she would even ask him that. Ray obviously never dealt with demons or demonology to know that was usually the nature of these deals. Give your offerings and expect something of equal value in return. A thoughtful look overtook his face for a second, so he had to have thought of  _ something  _ in those few seconds. "Well, you could tell me if it's good? This is my first time making an apple pie and I'm worried it doesn't taste good." 

Oh, now that was an easy one. She was sort of excited to try the sugary treat, especially if this very sweet man made it. 

"Deal." She said, her voice rumbling again and showing the pleasure she took in making this deal.

Now, why couldn't more deals go like this?

\----------------

The next time she came back, she found Ray sitting on the couch with a notebook open and her sigil drawn on the paper. "Oh! Sweet! I didn't know if I remembered it right but I wanted to ask you a favor!" He looked excited, not even waiting for her to ask him what was going on. 

After shifting into her human form, she followed him back into the kitchen, not afraid of his favors this time because if last time was any indication, they would end in sweet treats. She sincerely hoped there was more for her to try, last time had been  _ amazing _ , especially after he put a scoop of whatever that cold, sweet cream was onto her plate. 

Dare she say it, it had been  _ heavenly _ .

He brandished a new plate this time, holding circular disks with spots in them. They smelled delightful and looked edible, plus the large grin on his face was absolutely endearing. "What are these?" She asked, poking one of the soft disks in the spots and pulling her finger back to reveal she got some on her hand. Instead of waiting for him to tell her, she tentatively licked it.

Which turned out to be an  _ amazing  _ idea as whatever it was, was sweet and delicious. 

"These are chocolate chip cookies!" Ray handed her one instead of her swiping the whole plate like she had been about to do. "Here, try a whole one and tell me what you think?"

She quickly did so. "It's so  _ delicious. _ How do you make these? Why? When? I wish to have more, please." She looked up at him with wide eyes, clutching the half eaten cookie tightly to her chest. She was aware she was verging into begging territory but right now she couldn't find it in herself to care.

He happily showed her how to make more, rambling about certain techniques and temperatures all the while. She was sort of amazed at how easily he did two things at once, engaging her in conversation and prepping more of the delicious cookie dough. "It's usually recommended to NOT eat raw cookie dough, but that's for humans. I think you should try a little bit." Ray held out a spoon to her, which was weighed down with the sugary substance and it smelled almost even  _ better _ , which she didn't think was possible.

She took it from him, placing the utensil in her mouth slowly, almost afraid that it would taste bad. 

But she had nothing to worry about. How could things taste even  _ better  _ than the last thing he fed her? This man had to be magic or something because there was no way he was a regular human with talent like this.

"I actually don't do this a lot, it's more of a hobby." Ray ruined her train of thought but telling her this tidbit of information.

He didn't make these sweet treats for a living? What  _ did  _ he do then? She asked him instead of merely pondering it, she was curious to know as she still munched on cookies he gave her.

"Oh! I oversee Palmer Tech, we create technology that aids and benefits humanity as a whole. We didn't start out that way, I used to be, ah, a little more self centered and kind of an asshole." Ray admitted, genuinely remorseful about that time in his life. "After losing my fiancée to a group of criminals who decided I needed to be taken down a notch, I was lost and alone in my life. I didn't really have anyone because I'd drove them all away before. But then some very wonderful, and very messy, people came into my life. They helped me become a better man and thanks to them, I saw a new purpose in my life. It sounds like every white man's tragic backstory but I really do owe them so much."

"Who are they? Your friends." She asked. He lost the love of his life and his thoughts after were to become a better man? It sounded tragic but she was glad he did that instead of becoming angry and bitter like most would after suffering a loss like that.

"We call ourselves the Legends because of a laser tag team event we did." She had no idea what laser tag was but it didn't sound fun, even if he did have a little smile on his face at the idea of that. Why did humans have so many dangerous games and called them fun? 

"There's Sara, she's sort of our leader and kind of the soul of the group. She's been through a lot, to say the least. Then there's Nate, he's kind of my best friend, basically my brother. He's married to Amaya, she's got a twin and she's the lead animal caretaker of the zoo!" He had this fond look on his face as he started listing off his friends and what they meant to him. She decided that she liked this look on him, hoping it would stick around for a minute.

But that was also already a  _ lot  _ of people in her opinion. How many friends could one human have? She was also curious about what two of them did. "What do Nate and Sara do?" 

"Nate's a librarian, he helps validate and restore ancient texts as well! He'd probably  _ love  _ to meet you as you have a lot of knowledge, ancient knowledge at that?" Ray looked at her questioningly, the look made comical by the fact his hands were sticky from shaping dough. 

"Perhaps. Are they as kind as you?"

"They wouldn't bat an eye at you being a demon if that's what you're asking." Ray's face turned red at her minor compliment. 

So that's what blushing was, she thought, it was very endearing and complimented his features rather well. Maybe he'd do it more often? 

"Sara's kind of a jack of all trades, I guess? She's done a lot of things, most notably she was in the Army for several years. Um, she kind of has some bad PTSD from it so we try to not mention it and help her as we can, you know?" Ray continued, frowning a little at the mention of that, stopping his forming of the cookie dough briefly.

She had no idea what that was but it sounded bad and it caused great distress in the human and for Ray to think about it. So she simply nodded, hoping that her acknowledgement would be enough and he would continue on with sharing about his friends.

"But now, she works as a personal trainer, sometimes she'll babysit! She and I have been friends for the longest, along with Mick. Mick… doesn't do much, but we love him? Sometimes we question it but we never really have to question his loyalty. There's Charlie, they're Amaya's twin sibling and they're a firefighter for the SCFD. Zari is their girlfriend and she's an  _ epic  _ techie."

"What is a… techie?"

"She deals with computers and electronics! Like, she fixes them and can hack into them!" 

"I have no clue what any of that means." She really didn't, she was still trying to catch up on modern day things after being trapped for so long.

"It's okay! Um, can you hand me that towel over there, please?" Ray pointed to a hand towel, not wanting to touch too much with his dirty hands. "I'm getting ready to wash my hands and then we'll put this in to bake!"

"And then we can eat them?" She asked hopefully.

"Yep!" He grinned, more than happy to share his love of baking with her. "Also, I forgot to mention, there's John and Mona in the group. Mona's kind of young, she's in college right now but we know her through Thea, who's Oliver's little sister and Oliver is… sort of a friend."

"Sort of?"

"He's kind of, uh, an asshole." Ray cringed. "He's not the nicest person, even if he  _ could  _ be, but Sara says he has rich boy syndrome."

"Meaning, he won't be a nice person?" This was weird. How could someone have the option to do good and  _ not? _ Especially if they could give back and influence others like this Oliver could.

But couldn't that mean that she could be good too? She could but she'd been stuck in the cycle of being considered evil and a prime example of everything that is wrong with everyone. Even if she just kept to herself and ruled over her subjects, she  _ could  _ do better. She was a fallen angel though, no one wanted to be friends with one of  _ those. _

Except Ray, but she had a feeling that Ray could charm anyone.

"I don't claim to know what goes on in Oliver's mind honestly." Ray chuckled while washing his hands, thanking her when she squirted soap in them. "Speaking of names, have you found a good one yet?"

She shook her head, a little disappointed in herself for not having found one yet. "Nothing has spoken to me."

"Well, how about I help? We have about 12 minutes until the cookies are done! I can pull up a list of names from the internet and rattle 'em off." He dried his hands then moved to the living room, clearly expecting her to follow him.

\---------

"How about… Claire?"

"No." She vetoed that rather quickly, not liking that name at all. 

"Caroline?" Ray tried this time, scrolling around to look at different sections. "Mary? Marie? Ava?"

"Ava?" She kind of liked that name but it didn't suit her. A fellow demon, one that was her right hand and "best friend" in Hell however… "Not for me, but, um, I have a companion who might like it."

"Ah! That's great news!" Ray beamed, excited that they got somewhere on something at least. "Hmmm, but still nothing for you." He frowned, eyeing the page he was on critically. 

"It's alright if we find nothing, Ray." She spoke his name softly, hoping to break his determination for a moment. Even if it did make her feel warm and cared for, a feeling she was no longer familiar with thanks to… 

Well, you get the idea.

His frown deepened. "No, I want you to have a name that you like! I don't mind helping, I just want to help better, you know?"

"I appreciate it but… if there is only so much you can do, then maybe we should stop? I believe the timer is about to alert you anyways." She distracted him with that, wanting to move off the topic for a moment because, dare she say it, she was upset that she didn't have anything.

"I'm sorry." Ray offered, gently touching her shoulder on the way to the kitchen. "We'll find you something yet, I promise."

She decided to focus on that, enjoying the weight of his hand and how his thumb gently stroked her slightly exposed skin.

\----------

She was back, this time of her own free will and she appeared in Ray's backyard in her human form. He was at (what she thinks is) the grill, flipping food and listening to music on a sound device. Ray looked at ease in his tank top, enjoying the sunshine that graced his skin.

Very nice skin that distracted her for a moment but she shook her head, telling herself not to think a human was attractive. Even if he was and she did want to go for it, those relationships never ended well and the last time she tried…

No, she refused to think of the past anymore. She wanted to think of the future, a future where she could have friends and not be trapped in Hell for centuries with only the damned and her fellow demons to keep her company. Waiting for a time a human finally found her lost sigil and summoned her, only to use and discard her. 

Plus, Ray was so nice that she really wanted to keep being his friend. 

"Oh! Hey!" Speaking of the human, he waved her over with a big grin on his face. "I didn't think you could show up randomly?" Ray asked curiously, pursing his lips slightly.

"Ah, well, I can. All of us demons can, but only when we've developed… a bond with a human. Normally it's when a demon owns that human's soul but I've decided that we are… friends?" She was unsure if she should have used that word but it was too late to take it back.

His smile seemed to only get bigger when she said that, easing her nervousness. She honestly had never encountered someone filled with so much joy that it was always bursting forth from their body. "We are! I'm glad you think I'm a friend, honestly, it means so much to me that you said that." Ray told her, briefly turning back to the grill and making sure nothing was on fire. He looked at her, studying her for a moment.

She shifted in her spot, unsure why he was looking at her so intently. "Do I appear oddly?"

"No, you look good, great, uh, you know." Ray was flustered that he'd been misinterpreted but it wouldn't be so hard to fix, all he had to do was stop blushing and start talking. "You're beautiful." Nope,  _ not  _ what he meant to say but it was out there now.

"Oh. Um, thanks." She felt her face get warmer, unused to being complimented. 

"Even in your demon form! You're very… gorgeous in a rather, scary and intimidating way." He winced, apparently unable to keep his mouth shut now that he had started this. "Um, I wanted to tell you something. Something definitely not about your appearance, which is still gorgeous and crap, I'm sorry, I'm getting off track."

She didn't mind honestly, him rambling was extremely endearing, especially as his face turned pink again. In addition, she was sure she'd listen to him talk for hours and hours, never getting tired of his voice.

"And I've been thinking about a name for you, something that really represents… you, you know? And I think I found something? You can say no! Of course, but um, I think Nora. It means bright and, I really believe that's you. You're a demon but you've become such a bright spot in my life. I have friends, of course but I feel most excited for your visits. I know I can't summon you  _ all  _ the time, so I try to keep it reasonable and I cherish every second we get to hangout. So um, yeah."

She tested the name out in her head,  _ Nora. _ It was… it was a rather nice name and it  _ felt  _ right. "Ray." She touched his forearm, unsure how to verbalize how much what he said meant to her. "I- I love the name." She just decided to be honest about that, that was the least she could do, right?

He perked up, obviously excited to have heard that. "Well then, Nora, what do you want to do after lunch?"

Nora simply smiled at him.


End file.
